The technology described herein relates to a method of graphics processing and to a graphics processor for a graphics processing system.
Many popular graphics processing systems use plural buffers, e.g. frame buffers, to produce a final output (e.g. image or texture). For example, a first set of graphics data may be generated by a processor and then written to a buffer in external (e.g. main or off-chip) memory. The buffer containing the first set of graphics data may then be read back, some further processing may be carried out on the first set of graphics data by the processor and the resultant second set of graphics data may be written back to a further buffer in external memory. In many cases, this may occur multiple times prior to the generation of the final output as multiple processing steps are required. The time, memory bandwidth and power required to retrieve graphics data from a buffer and write back to a (subsequent) buffer after each processing step may be significant.
The Applicants accordingly believe that there remains scope for improvements to graphics processing methods and graphics processors that perform multiple processing steps.
Like reference numerals are used for like components where appropriate in the drawings.